My Grass-Fed Field Trip

I visit local and organic farms just for fun.

I am the biggest dork.

EVER.

No use arguing with this one.

Let’s just say, if there were a Grammy’s for dorkiness, well, I’d win every year for a stellar performance.

But, I kinda like that about me. I’m not ashamed to put on my online profiles that I think Dumb and Dumber is one of the smartest comedic scripts ever written, that I still giggle over Homestar Runner, and that I enjoy visiting organic farms just for fun.

Yep. Life doesn’t get much more exciting than that for this gal. But at least I have a blog now, and I have an outlet to blog my dorkiness away.

Which brings me right to my post.

As you guys know, I’m all about eating organic and locally farmed foods. And if you listened to my interview with Meegan from A-Market Natural Food Stores you know how IMPORTANT it is to eat your animal products organically, grass-fed and humanely raised.

No antibiotics which can pass on to us when we eat the meat. No growth hormones which are used that can make the cow sick and create the need for the antibiotics . Free roaming and open range which keeps the animals calm and peaceful. And grass-fed which keeps the cattle healthy and the environment sustainable.

So, as part fun and part business, I took a little field trip to scope out one of the local farms that I buy my meat from.

Why I don’t have even have a garden yet in my backyard is beyond me.

I called the farm ahead of time to schedule my tour, and when I was asked how big my group was, I felt funny saying, “Uh, it’s just me.”

The woman on the other end, giggled.

She was probably thinking I was a 3rd grade science teacher taking her class of 9 year olds on a field trip to learn the inner workings of a farm.

Nope. Just me. A 27 year old college grad looking to pet a few a cows.

I proceeded to tell her about my little project here at the Naked Dish, and how uber-passionate I am about organic food, and my life’s mission to educate the ENTIRE world through my little blog.

I’m going to take over the world.

The Naked Dish will have her own show on the Travel Channel, multi-million dollar book deal, and line of non-dairy organic ice cream…you just wait and see.

“I hope you can make some money off this”, she says.

“Oooh yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ve got some plans for that.”

Ha.

Does having a “DONATE” button from PayPal count as a business plan?

I’m sure I’ll qualify for a SBA loan, no questions asked.

Anywho, back to my post.

Miles Smith Farm is cozily tucked away in the back roads of Loudon, NH, which is off the beaten track from the capital city, Concord.

A few turns off the highway, a short run on a dirt road, up a hill and to the left is the 159 year old working farm.

I pull into the driveway and hop out of the car to be greeted by a woman’s voice saying, “Well you certaintly didn’t dress to visit a farm”.

What? A knee length GAP skirt, and Reef sandals isn’t ruggeded enough?

Crap.

Should have brought shoes, wasn’t even thinking that I may be stepping in piles of you know and who knows what.

A typical New Hampshire native, Carole was decked out in appropriate farm attire: Carthart slacks thick enough to bounce bullets off of, hiking boots and a classic half-button LL Bean fleece.

What was I thinking wearing a spaghetti strapped tank top?

After a quick tour of the farm, and a brief history lesson of the land, we went through the on-site store (don’t let the word “store” fool you. Like most typical farms, it consisted of a few over sized freezers and a cash register), we make our way through the basement and up to her house.

Carole and her partner Bruce, both live and work on the farm. The farm was their part-time gig.

“If this is part-time, what’s your full-time career?” I inquisitively asked her.

“High tech. I work for HP.”

???

Um. Ok.

A bit unexpected, but the dichotomy of that further intrigued me.

The view from the top of their hill was unreal. The air felt crisp as the beginnings of fall was just making its way through the northeast, and the sky was crystal clear.

The faint buzzing of the Loudon International Speedway played like white noise in the background. An ironic juxtoposition paired with this tranquil, zen like view from her three season porch windows.

I couldn’t help but comment on how peaceful and serene her view was.

“Yeah, it’s nice”, she replied nonchalantly.

Nice? Just nice? She was nuts. The majestic beauty of the mountains was “utterly” (hehe) breathtaking for this city slicker.

A quick bathroom break and an off-the-record conversation about the new healthcare reform and recent article in TIME magazine “Getting Real About The High Price Of Cheap Food” and it was time to do what I came to do.

So, with my trusty Mac Book Pro and free recording software, Carole and I sat down and talked meat.

Grass-fed. Open range. Humanely treated. Meat.

Here is the product of that conversation. Enjoy.